Posts Tagged ‘Green Build’

Daniel Harris has been a Foreign Service Officer for over 25 years serving at posts in Europe, South America, Africa, and Washington, DC, most recently as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Operations, U.S. Commercial Service. He currently serves as the chief of the Commercial Section and the senior representative of the U.S. Department of Commerce in the U.S. Mission to France.

At the end of two weeks of living and breathing “Green,” our Commercial Service travelers feel exhausted but happy. The adrenaline high that comes from pushing into new markets and meeting many innovative companies overcomes the fatigue. We also feel proud of our organization. This whole experiment – the Green Build Road Show, our partnerships with the private sector and our participation in the Green Build Show in Phoenix — was driven by the “field” – that is, the Commercial Service people overseas and in the national offices. Several of us in Europe grasped that Green Build was a growth opportunity and started developing the notion of a Road Show. Our colleagues in the United States jumped on board and our folks in Headquarters supported us. Then we went to the private sector to find marketing partners and their positive response confirmed we were on to something.

What’s so cool is that we brought this together in a very 21st Century style – we coalesced around the power of an idea and we pieced the rest together as we went along. Dozens, maybe hundreds, of people collaborated across nine time zones, with no guarantees of success or promises of particular reward. The Commercial Service DNA seems to include genes for both entrepreneurship and altruism.

We’ve learned a lot from thinkers at Carnegie Mellon, the National Renewable Energy Lab, the Green Build Council – and of course from the companies we met. Our challenge is helping them succeed in overseas markets, and for that we can draw on years of experience. It feels really good when you offer ideas and see lights flashing in an entrepreneur’s eyes. On Wednesday, I told a start up that they were selling themselves short – that we could help them take a much more ambitious approach to the European market, despite their limited resources. After talking to a couple of my colleagues, they circled back to tell me they wanted to go for it!

Al Gore and Sheryl Crowe energized several thousand Green Build participants on Wednesday night – giving us a sense that, through supporting American innovation, we’re making our own contribution to saving the planet.

All of us sense that the Road Show is just the beginning. This sector is still ramping up – and we want to be players. So, where do we go from here? Already we have a couple of big events on the horizon – the Bright Green Pavilion at the COP 15 in Copenhagen and the Green Industries Trade Mission we’re doing with FedEx in April. Beyond that, we want to expand and deepen our partnerships with top research institutions, with our private sector partners and with associations. For the rest, we’ll move with the needs of American companies as this exciting sector continues to unfold.

Keith Curtis is a senior Foreign Service Officer currently based in the U.S. Commercial Service’s Office of International Operations. He is the Commercial Service’s senior advisor on energy efficiency and renewable energy.

Reaching the Green Goal, the Commercial Service’s Greenbuild Road Show has arrived at its final destination: the Greenbuild Conference and Expo, the country’s largest sustainable building event based in Phoenix this year. This wildly popular event is hosting 1,800 exhibitors and expected to attract upwards of 25,000 of visitors over the next three days. At its pre-show program, delegations from 90 countries came to International Day, creating the “buzz heard ‘round the world” about Green Buildings. CS Abu Dhabi Senior Commercial Officer Laurie Farris brought a delegation of 95 buyers and planners ready to build green in the Middle East, which was the largest group among the dozens of countries present.

As part of the educational program designed for the hundreds of international buyers, Paris SCO Dan Harris moderated a panel on retrofitting buildings to lower their carbon footprint and enhance their green credentials. Here we are now down to the core of the core of the immediate problem. From the speakers on this panel we learned an incredible amount: 40 per cent of Green House Gas (GHG) comes from buildings; 70% of our electricity is used in buildings; and, the low hanging fruit of GHG mitigation can come from increasing efficiency in buildings –the kicker is that these reductions come at cost savings, so whether you believe in climate change or not, it makes sense. Dan’s panel pointed out the next step; this problem is not going to be solved by new buildings because the turnover takes too long. Most of our buildings are “old” and will remain that way for a while. But we can put new “skins“ on buildings, and we can “green” existing buildings, like the Clinton Climate Initiative is doing with the Empire State Building. And, the most important thing we learned – the final point beyond the point – is that in the end it comes around to the people in the buildings, because green buildings have to be used right or they are no good. Green buildings are performing way below expectations, it turns out, because of improper use. So monitoring becomes key, as are systems that tell you how the building is performing in actual use, and what you need to correct. Now, here at the Greenbuild Expo, it seems we are arriving at the set of solutions needed to really address climate change.

And the buzz is building and building. We started the day at the office of the U.S. Export Assistance Center in Scottsdale which has a growing set of export-ready clients – our European SCOs reached out to these Phoenix-area companies from a wide range industries who are interested in the European markets; some of these folks later joined us at the Greenbuild show to check out the excitement. As the International Day seminars came to a close and the Show officially opened in the evening, gleaming with beautiful carpets and a feast of food and drink, we started meeting a host of U.S. firms who hold the solutions to mitigating climate change and enhancing energy efficiency. These are the companies we want to help introduce to international markets. Now we look forward to a whirlwind of buzz as we head toward the penultimate events of the tour.

Dorothy Lutter is a Senior Foreign Service Officer currently serving as the Minister Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in London. She has previously been posted in over half a dozen other countries and has served as the U.S. Commercial Service‘s Regional Director for the Western Hemisphere.

Green Build Roadshow Stop Four – Today’s event was held in beautiful San Francisco, appropriately enough in the LEED-certified green offices of local sponsoring partner, Nixon Peabody. Completed in 2007, the office cost 1.75% more to create a green space, but according to one of the senior partners already created energy savings and savings in terms of increased efficiency, effectiveness, and worker productivity. David Gensler, Executive Director of the architectural firm that designed the space, noted that sustainability now permeates 100% of their business in the U.S. and around the globe.

One of the common themes along the way has been that the green building market is here to stay in Europe and will only continue to grow with increased EU initiatives and regulation. Barry Lynham of Knauf Insulations reinforced this message today. He noted that the EU’s Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) is under review with stronger measures expected to be adopted by December. Key drivers are governmental concerns over climate security, energy security and fuel poverty. Key features will be more ambitious standards, renovation standards for all buildings, a low energy strategy, increased certification and increased inspection and enforcement.

Our “quotable quote” of the day came from my colleague Dan Harris, SCO Paris, who noted that with this momentum in Europe, not only are European companies leading the way there, but are also increasingly looking at the growing green building market in America. U.S. companies need to think offensively, positioning themselves not only in the U.S., but in Europe as well. “A U.S. company that operates only in the U.S. is like a football team that is playing the game with only defense.”

As we now head to the GreenBuild Show in Phoenix, our hopes are high that we will be able to encourage and assist more U.S. companies to strategically position themselves in the dynamic and growing European green building space.

Federico Bevini is the Commercial Specialist responsible for the building products, construction equipment and architectural, construction and engineering services sectors for the U.S. Commercial Service at the U.S. Consulate in Milan, Italy. Federico has been a part of the U.S. Commercial Service since 2003.

After the excellent programs in the green cities of Pittsburgh and Denver, the participants in the Green Build Road Show found their way to San Jose and discovered that Silicon Valley has a green heart. Mayor Chuck Reed, who opened the day’s program in the San Jose City Hall (a LEED Platinum – certified building), actually described San Jose as an “ecosystem” of entities, among them the City government, that are cooperating in making San Jose the world center of clean technology innovation. It is very well known that the high technology industries have been bringing talent and jobs to the San Jose area over the years but, in the Mayor’s words, the challenge is now to capture the next wave of innovations in clean technology and facilitate the exporting of those technologies to the rest of the world. To be sure, many local companies already derive most of their revenues from foreign markets, but many more can benefit from exports and Mayor Reed stressed how important it will be to inform the 6,000+ hi-tech companies in the area about the opportunities highlighted by the Green Build Road Show.

The U.S. Commercial Service Green Build Road Show crew with San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed. (U.S. Department of Commerce photo)

Many of those local companies actually attended the day’s program and from the Q&A sessions it became clear that quite a few had not been involved in exports but were now considering exporting as a result of the very effective (as usual) presentations delivered by the Commercial Service and its partners in the Road Show, as well as by Knauf Insulation, which was part of the panel and was very persuasive in demonstrating that driving energy efficiency in buildings is good for climate, energy, economy, jobs (a “win win win win” situation). During the Q&A session, members of the Small Business Administration and the Exim Bank had an opportunity to highlight their organizations’ financing programs aimed at increasing local companies’ participation in foreign trade shows and at furthering developments in renewable energies. The audience’s interest in the day’s program was exemplified by the eagerness of representatives from the Greater San Jose Hispanic Chamber of Commerce to be involved in the FedEx Green Trade Mission and in the Hannover Fair.

On a personal note, the afternoon meetings with local companies interested in starting or expanding their presence in Europe confirmed my initial impression that San Jose and Silicon Valley are home to innovative, open minded and ambitious entrepreneurs who are not looking to make a quick profit but, at least in the area of green building, really want to contribute to reducing the carbon footprint in the USA and abroad. Excellent!

Frank Carrico is the Regional Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. He has also served the U.S. Commercial Service in Iraq, Brazil, Ukraine, Japan, and Germany.

We’ve had a great stop in Denver. Our Commercial Service office here, under expert guidance from Paul Bergman, coordinated an in-depth visit to Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) today. While on the road, the Commercial Officers are not only highlighting market opportunities in Europe to the sustainable building clients we meet, but we’re learning an incredible amount about the green technologies that make the United States a global leader in this area. That’s why we’re at NREL.

We’ve had briefings on NREL’s programs that were focused on development and commercialization of new technologies in building energy efficiency, biofuels, and alternative power production, with particular emphasis on integrating innovative photovoltaics to yield lower and more competitive cost of production of solar cells for kilowatt hours (Kwh) of energy. NREL is DOE’s only laboratory of its twelve research facilities that is focused on developing energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies (EERE). A critical part of the lab’s mission is the acceleration and transfer of NREL technology into existing energy markets. NREL’s Partnership Development programs for its industry partners foster the integration and application of NREL’s R&D. These programs are allowing nascent renewable energy companies to accelerate entry into the private marketplace; become cost-competitive; work with worldwide partners in renewable energy; and, expand markets in the U.S. and overseas.

NREL’s $460M budget for 2009 includes $110 million of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act which is being used to increase collaboration through Cooperative Research and Development Agreements (CRADA) and to expand international cooperation with foreign governments. Most recently, NREL has become a founding partner of SolarTac Technology Acceleration Center for establishing a major commercialization center in Aurora on the outskirts of Denver for integrated photovoltaics and energy efficiency technology commercialization. Other founding partners include SunEdison, Xcel, and Abengoa Solar of Spain. NREL expects that at least 30 companies will become part of SolarTac within the next year.

Commercial Officers and Specialists offered suggestions on how our domestic and international offices could assist NREL and DOE with its work in overseas markets and to open international markets for U.S. companies working with NREL on innovative technologies. DOE is already working with CS Stockholm and Copenhagen on special presentations at its Bright Green trade event in December in Copenhagen during the UN COP-15 Climate Change negotiations.

Following our whirlwind site visit at NREL, Paul Bergman and the CS office took us downtown for a special visit with Governor Bill Ritter. Each of us had the chance to introduce our work in our markets to the Governor and to explain how we could help with increasing export sales for Colorado companies. In particular, we had the opportunity to explain how the Fedex-sponsored April trade mission to Europe would be especially valuable for Colorado companies. The Governor promised that his office would follow up with us on the trade mission and will explore closer cooperation on our export programs.

Thomas Moore is Counselor for Commercial Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Rome, Italy. Mr. Moore has previously served as the U.S. Commercial Service’s Deputy Director General, overseeing 2,000 employees in more than 80 countries.

During the morning program, an audience member posed an interesting question: Did we have any optimism that the United States would follow and match Europe’s current lead in the domestic deployment of these technologies? As it turned out, the questioner had arrived late and missed most of the morning presentations. Otherwise, he would have known that he was addressing a roomful of green entrepreneurs with strong confidence in an inevitable low-carbon future.

The Road Show had touched down in exactly the right place: Denver is a hotbed of green technology development. While the Road Show was conceived to educate U.S. companies on the European green build market, it has also been an eye-opening learning experience for the U.S. Commercial Service’s European officers and industry specialists. We have found exactly what we were looking for: A rich vein of new and innovative products and specialized expertise that should find an attentive market in Europe.

Pam Reichert, the State of Colorado’s Director of International Trade, opened the program with a description of Colorado’s strong commitment to what they have creatively coined the “New Energy Economy.” “We’ve become a template for the rest of the nation for creating jobs, diversifying our energy portfolio, increasing energy security, and reducing our carbon footprint,” she said, citing the State’s success in attracting European investment in green technologies and in exporting nearly $2 billion last year to Europe.

The morning program featured presentations by two Colorado entrepreneurs who epitomize this success and should serve as encouraging role models – and mentors – for others to follow.

Dan Kigar, CEO of The Colorado Yurt Company, described his experiences in exporting 25 tent-like yurts for a major cultural exhibition in Paris. Dan plans to conquer the world with his tent structures based upon the famous design of Genghis Khan, updated to the 21st century and pushing the envelope in use of sustainable technologies and recycled products. He also cautioned exporters to beware of “bumps in the road” such as EU standards conformity issues, and he thanked the Commercial Service in France for helping him overcome these obstacles when they arose.

Mark Chen, Marketing Director for Abound Solar, discussed his company’s success selling thin-film solar photovoltaic modules in Germany, the world’s largest solar market with 50 percent annual growth in recent years. Mark elicited laughs from the audience when he compared the bureaucratic paperwork required by Germany for a solar installation – two pages – versus the tabletop full of paper required by California. But he did caution companies that they would face difficulties, albeit surmountable, in dealing with the European Union’s regulatory regimes for chemicals and electronic products. (FYI: The Commercial Service can help!)

The keynote speaker at lunch was David Hiller, Executive Director of the Colorado Renewable Energy Collaboratory, a joint venture of four premier public research universities in partnership with the private sector, and an important element in the infrastructure that has attracted foreign investment to Colorado. David highlighted the strong public support and commitment among Coloradans for clean energy solutions.

Will this public commitment be replicated nationally, as one audience member wondered? We had a room full of people betting their sweat and financial equity that it would! On a personal note, it was wonderful to renew acquaintances with our top-notch U.S. Commercial Service colleagues in the Denver Export Assistance Center. Kudos for a fantastic job organizing this event!

Day Two of the Greenbuild roadshow: another sunny day in Pittsburgh, which we were able to appreciate from inside a perfect greenbuild environment – Carnegie Mellon’s Intelligent Workspace – the greenbuild state-of-the-art home of the Faculty of Architecture, with special shading, ventilation system and lighting. At the invitation of Professor Volker Hartkopf, Director of the Center, the Commercial Service team participated in a greenbuilding conference attended by approximately 35 representatives from government, academia, industry, and service providers.

We heard that promoting awareness of the benefits of green building to the general public – especially the incentives to stimulate going green and enabling green technologies – is key to making the program a success. While ambitious energy performance targets now have to be met, and preferably exceeded, for public buildings, it is often a challenge to balance budget realities and green build opportunities.

Our own mission – to reach out to U.S. greenbuild firms who are new to exporting – was expressed most eloquently by George Ruffner, the Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy in Germany: “Where are you?!” asked George, adding, “We in the Commercial Service are ready to help American companies succeed in European markets, but we need your help to find those companies and encourage them to export.” After highlighting the individual markets in Europe, we left the participants with some food for thought for future projects, outreach, and more… Hopefully, it is the beginning of more to come!